Elections chief McFadyen says claims in petition false

Wednesday

Jan 28, 2015 at 7:15 PM

New Hanover elections director filed an official response to the petition seeking his removal.

By Lydia CoutréLydia.Coutre@StarNewsOnline.com

NEW HANOVER COUNTY | The petition to remove Elections Director Marvin McFadyen, supported 2-1 by the New Hanover County Board of Elections, is riddled with false accusations, unsupported claims and personal attacks, according to the official response filed Wednesday by McFadyen's attorney.The allegations in the petition are in stark contrast with the response, a statement from board member Tannis Nelson who opposed the petition, prior written evaluations and letters from supporting former New Hanover County board members and regional elections directors.Many times, the response points the finger at county board Chairman John Ferrante, who was the sole author of the petition, according to the response, which calls Ferrante "consistently untruthful," "delusional" and "without credibility."Ferrante declined to comment Wednesday night, deferring all questions to the state board of elections.Ferrante is facing his own allegations from four separate complaints filed with the state board of elections, calling him biased and intimidating.Throughout his response to each of the 298 points made in the petition, Roger Knight, attorney for McFadyen, points out misinformation, out-of-context statements and unfounded conclusions.Petition for removalEarlier this month, the New Hanover County Board of Elections voted 2-1 to request the state remove McFadyen from his position. Only the N.C. Board of Elections has such authority.Nelson objected, calling the move "highly unethical" as the board hadn't given McFadyen a written evaluation and chance to correct any concerns. She reiterates that in her 12-page statement attached to the response, in which she writes: "Where no problem exists, the Chairman seems to often create one, whether intentionally or not. Then he blames the person we all agree has overall responsibility for the elections office, Mr. McFadyen."McFadyen said he had previously refused requests to resign. According to a letter by Ferrante to state board Executive Director Kim Strach, on three separate occasions Ferrante met with McFadyen to discuss possibly resolving the matter without a petition, "but Mr. McFadyen refused each time to consider any such possibility."Workplace supervisorThe petition claims that McFadyen "fails as a workplace supervisor," citing employees, whose names are redacted, calling him intimidating, noting a lack of feedback or praise and saying he doesn't know the inner workings of individual staff members' jobs.The response questions the credibility of these comments, saying that employees are given the impression the chairman is really running the office "and the employees had better make the Chairman happy and tell him what he wants to hear."McFadyen further supports this in his statement, writing he has "no doubt" Ferrante encouraged staff to "say or invent things that pleased him."Other allegationsThe petition listed several reasons for requesting termination, just one of which is McFadyen's Nov. 15 arrest at his Wilmington home on charges of assault on a female and the resulting workplace distraction. McFadyen agrees that the pending charges are serious, regrets any disruption they have caused and fully denies the charges, according to the response. The petition also points the finger at McFadyen for the "unlawful and preventable disclosures of confidential voter data," stating he should have known the county's public email server policies.Knight notes that no prior county board authorization existed for the county to publicly share this information, "for these reasons, the county is liable for the public access of these emails." The response also pins the mistake on staff, specifically Elections Supervisor Derek Bowens, and claims Ferrante knew McFadyen didn't cause the problem and put in charge the "one person responsible for the information breach."Statements of supportAttached to the response are two previous evaluations performed by previous boards. Both the 2011 and the 2012-2013 evaluations cite "no deficiencies" in the section to address significant performance issues."The New Hanover County Board of Elections is a better organization now as a result of the leadership skills of Director McFadyen. I hope that he will continue to serve; we need him," states a letter signed by Tommy Guinn, immediate past chairman of the board; Geneva Reid, immediate past secretary; and Bill Kopp, immediate past member.And several regional elections directors signed a Jan. 23 letter that says it would "be a shame to lose someone as valuable as Mr. Marvin McFadyen."Nelson also lauds him for how smoothly elections have been run.Going forwardAccording to state statute, to remove a county elections director, at least a majority of the county board has to sign a petition for removal. The petition is then sent to the executive director of the state board of elections. The executive director must then forward a copy of the petition to the county elections director involved, who has 15 days to reply to the allegations raised. Wednesday was the agreed-upon deadline.Typically, Strach would decide whether to grant or deny the petition for removal. She was recused from consideration of the petition, so state board chairman Josh Howard assigned the responsibility to state board Deputy Director Amy Strange, who has until Feb. 17 to render a determination.Until such a decision is made, McFadyen holds his title and is an active employee with the county, meaning he is still paid his annual salary of $77,427.16. Bowens has been handling day to day operations at the board of elections.